Monday, January 22, 2024
The US will get its first dedicated high-speed railway built by Network Rail Consulting (NRC).
The British company received an award of a £57.5m contract in the development of a new 220 mph service in California.
It will connect trains from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours.
There will be later branches to Sacramento and San Diego, according to its official website.
Construction is already under way on the route.
It will compete with Amtrak’s Coast Starlight route that offers daily services between Los Angeles and Seattle.
Amtrak takes a minimum of 9 hrs and 30 mins to traverse 348 miles between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Primarily a tourist route, the new route hopes to slash.
California’s High-Speed Rail Project will be the nation’s first truly high-speed rail system. It aims to be operational by the end of 2030.
The goal is for train testing on the first 119-mile, electrified track to begin in four years.
NRC’s establishement was in 2012 to demonstrate British expertise overseas and be an international ambassador for Britain’s rail industry.
Public has funded Network Rail, and the fess earned has funded NRC’s operations.
According to its website, NRC has successfully delivered more than 150 consultancy contracts for government, public and privately-owned organisations.
Its operations are currently active in Australia the Middle East (Riyadh) and North America.
The California high-speed development forms part of a wider revolution in US train travel.
It is a country that considers its finger firmly on the pulse of much technological innovation.
High-speed rail travel has failed to take flight. Cars, buses and airplanes are the favourite methods of transportation for most residents and tourists.
In December 2023, President Joe Biden announced $8.2bn (£6.5bn) in new funding for 10 major passenger rail projects across the country.
In addition to the Los Angeles-San Francisco route, other projects include a route between California and Nevada.
According to the official release, the investment marks the largest investment in [US] passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak over 50 years ago.
Brightline West will comprise a 218-mile line connecting Las Vegas and the outskirts of Los Angeles. Here passengers can transfer onto suburban services.
The government claims Brightline West will serve more than 11 million passengers annually.
Travelling at 186 mph, the route has a journey time of about two hours and 10 minutes.
It is less than half the time of the five hours it takes to travel between the two metropolises by car.
The ambitious project may be up and running in time for the Los Angeles Olympics in July 2028 to the tune of an estimated $12bn (£9.4bn).
The news comes less than six months after Rishi Sunak scrapped the northern leg of HS2. It is the UK’s own high-speed rail route.
In a move, business leaders called a “monumental betrayal” of the Government’s promise to level up the country and achieve net zero.
A subsidiary of Network Rail manages the HS1 infrastructure.
It supports high-speed services between London St Pancras International, Stratford International, Ebbsfleet International and the Channel Tunnel and Eurostar services to the continent.
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